Kakapo ready to breed — conservation workers

Press, 13 April 1989, Page 20

Kakapo ready to breed — conservation workers

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

Wellington Confidence that New Zealand’s rarest bird, the kakapo or giant flightless parrot, will start breeding on Codfish Island is growing in the Conservation Department. Codfish, off Stewart Island, is one of two remnant kakapo populations; the other is on Little Barrier Island. Kakapos generally breed successfully only once every four or five years. But to have them booming and displaying only 20 months after being transferred to their new home on Codfish auguered well for breeding in the future, the department said. Already the males had begun building the track

and bowl system that featured in breeding and there had been some booming — the prelude to breeding — but this had not been sustained. This booming and displaying suggested that the birds were overcoming the trauma of transfer, the Minister of Conservation, Mr Woollaston, said. After the booming had stopped, a male kakapo had suddenly displayed for a conservation worker there. Scientists had never seen a Stewart Islandbred kakapo display before. Only five of the 25 kakapos transferred to Codfish from Stewart Island between July, 1987, and February, 1988, had been female.

He said the birds on the 1400 ha island were now safe from cats, but their low numbers and slow reproduction rate required an intervention almost as much as for the Chatham Islands black robin. In the case of the kakapos that would mean supplementing their feeding to bring the birds into breeding condition as soon as possible. It had been decided to post permanent staff to Codfish, two at a time, Mr Woollaston said. As the Little Barrier population had not yet bred successfully, hope for saving the species was focusing on the Codfish population.